Freddie Mercury’s flamboyant fashions step back into our consciousness this month as the Queen frontman becomes the subject of a new biographical film starring Rami Malek. Bohemian Rhapsody, a reference to the band’s hit 1975 song which will forever be immortalised in the minds of anyone under 40 as a soundtrack to the cult 1992 film Wayne’s World, documents the singer’s life, including his tragic diagnosis with AIDS, leading up to 1985’s legendary Live Aid concert. Needless to say there’s some great wardrobe moments in there, too.
Because as well as penning and performing some of history’s best-loved pop-rock songs, the mega music star has also been responsible for some of the era’s best outfits, wearing everything from a head-to-toe sequin catsuit later seen on the front cover of Classic Rock to dressing up as a repressed housewife (in a leather skirt, pink top and disc earrings) for the video of “I Want To Break Free” and regularly sporting high-octane military jackets studded with epaulettes on stage. Mercury was a style icon and his costume credentials, as well as his vocal cords have left a lasting legacy.
- Arts & LifestyleThe Idea Of You Has The Wrong Idea
“Freddie’s style was very single-minded and always tight,” says stylist and creative consultant Charlotte Pilcher, drawing attention to his penchant for snug white trousers, skinny vests “and a seasoning of the Seventies US motorbike cop series Chips… with Versace glamour,” Pilcher appropriately describes.
Nowhere were all these components more present than during the most recent rounds of catwalk collections, from autumn/winter 2018 (in shops now) through to spring/summer 2019 (just seen); the latter even saw both Balmain (well-known for its music-themed collections under Olivier Rousteing), and Junya Watanabe using Queen soundtracks to accompany their womenswear shows.
- Arts & LifestyleThe Idea Of You Has The Wrong Idea
While Mercury’s dress-up spirit has been an overarching trope at Gucci for some time, other labels drilled down into distinct elements of the rock star’s style. While Balmain – along with Faith Connexion, Redemption and AMIRI – went big on Mercury’s trophy jackets, all sharp shoulders and serious surface design, Moschino and Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood gave us the billowing capes and lithe catsuits of the singer’s glam-rock side. On the menswear runways, chests were sexily on show, rock ’n’ roll-style at Ann Demeulemeester, and painted in glitter at Saint Laurent. And from one showman to another, Hedi Slimane, the new name at Céline, went all out with Eighties-style leather jackets that had Mercury written all over them.
Arguably he paved the way for many a confident, theatrical act among today’s contemporary artists – comparisons can be drawn with Perfume Genius and Scissor Sisters’ Jake Shears; Mercury even gets a namecheck in the new single “Danny Nedelko” by the band Idles. His influence has been integral to the rebranding British high-street stalwart John Lewis, whose latest TV advert is entirely centred around the Bohemian Rhapsody soundtrack. And let’s not forget the words of fellow virtuoso and advocate of a good stage outfit, David Bowie, who once reportedly said: “Of course, I always admired a man who wears tights.”
- Arts & LifestyleThe Idea Of You Has The Wrong Idea
Just as the video for “I Want To Break Free” underlines, Mercury wasn’t averse to borrowing from the girls, breaking free from and playing with gender norms, in much the same way as resonates with us today. It makes a lot of sense that his style should encompass both menswear and womenswear – check out the white vest and trouser combination in Casey Cadwallader’s new Mugler collection, the velvet military jackets at Saint Laurent, Y/Project’s ruffled capes and Isabel Marant’s homage to the '80s among the new-season womenswear offerings. Freddie Mercury’s style can now be the real life, not just fantasy.
